One Year In: How To Meme A Pandemic

It’s hard to believe, but before March 2020 many of us didn’t know what an epidemiologist was. Last week marked a year since the WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, opening the floodgates for a whole new topic for meme culture to consume.

Twelve months of the ensuing existential dread have tested the theory that great art comes from troubled times. And while we’re yet to see the classic coronavirus novel, the internet has been inundated with content that documents our strange new way of life. Much like the guidelines that most countries have been enforcing, there have been a few rules involved in their production and there’s a method to the virus-induced madness. From lockdown struggles to stimulus spending sprees, here’s what we have learned in a year of producing COVID-19 memes.

Stay Safe

Unsurprisingly, most people’s primary concern when a deadly disease starts spreading is avoiding catching it. This anxiety has inspired memes repeatedly over the course of the pandemic, which is often met with predictable ridiculousness.

Pandemic memes were off to a strong start when they were given a couple of key symbols to guide them. One of these was widespread mask usage and a rebellion against that which prompted viral disdain. Between her net curtain getups and Target-based tantrums, Karen became a mascot for COVID denial by proving her continued, unfortunate relevance through the pandemic. On top of that, the novel concept of social distancing gave the meme world every excuse to indulge its weirdo hermit tendencies. Its offbeat public health message offered a counteraction to the mask debate.

Of course, one of the biggest factors in keeping safe is financial. If you need to pay your bills, you are probably still going to go to work — even if you’re nonessential, and even if you might have coronavirus. The US government famously attempted to counter this with their stimulus check, totaling the grand amount of $600.

While many criticized the payment as insufficient, from a meme perspective it was a golden opportunity. Fantasies of frivolous purchases sat alongside an ongoing contest of who could present their brokeness in the most creative way, exemplifying how the internet can turn even the biggest disappointments into attention-seeking contests.

The soon-to-be fulfilled promise of a further "$1400"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/direct-deposit-1400 stimulus has seen the recycling of similar punchlines. The stimulus may not have covered what a lot of people hoped it would, but memers have shown that they can be thrifty with it.

Stay Informed

As has been emphasized repeatedly in the past year, we’ve been living through unprecedented times. Extraordinary news is constantly making the headlines, and it can become difficult on your daily doomscroll to sort the falsehoods from the facts.

It’s something that has encouraged people towards extremes, allowing conspiracy theories like QAnon to spread their influence further and raise fears over vaccinations. In its almost noble quest to dispel some of this misinformation, memes pointed out we often put our bodies through far more questionable things than vaccines.

You Don’t Need To Worry About The Vaccine and What If I Told You There Is Already A Vaccine offer a sliding scale. From detailing our many gross pre-pandemic lifestyle choices (e.g. using concert venue restrooms) to pointing out it is a miracle some of us are still alive in the first place (did anyone ever eat a Tide pod and live to tell the tale?) the formats provided a matter of fact reassurance despite their not especially scientific basis.

Vaccine paranoia was not the only misinformation at which memes took aim, as the early stages of the pandemic saw lockdown-related ones. All in all, COVID hasn’t been that great for the environment — but that didn’t stop the endless satirical takes on how nature is healing.

Proving that there really is a snowclone for any event going, "We Are The Virus" saw cakes return to the ocean just like we were told the dolphins returned to Venice. The natural world is an especially beautiful place when you have access to stock photos and photoshop.

Have Some Perspective

It’s fair to say that living through one of the most important world events of our lifetimes can sometimes be pretty stressful. So, it’s important to try and maintain a healthy state of mind in our day-to-day lives. Not one for taking sensible advice, meme culture has done the opposite of this by highlighting the most melodramatic outlook on life possible.

My Plans / 2020 was, at heart, a complaint about the disruptive impact of a year that quickly became one of the worst in living memory. Drawing upon the longstanding ‘new year, same me’ theme, My Plans / 2020 offered the twist that our downfall was circumstantial for once instead of brought about by personal failings. This was highlighted by the dominant source material of movies and TV shows, emphasizing the imposed narrative.

It was given an anniversary edition with the March 1st, 2020 vs. March 1st, 2021 format. As its predecessor predicted, a year filled with disease had taken its toll. The misery wasn’t implied by a plot point this time, it was shown outright in the individual’s haggard appearance.

For some, this tiredness has transformed into full-blown madness. At the height of virus mania, COVID became anthropomorphized as Miss Rona, stylized with the lips, lashes and nails previously applied to everyone from Patrick Star to Peppa Pig. Twitter users originally decried her attitude and entitlement when it came to taking over their lives.

However, as the name stuck it began to approach a term of endearment, reaching a peak around the ‘birthday’ of the first recorded case. Following a wild time that sometimes did not seem to promise all that much hope for the future, Miss Rona adoptees took an understandable stance: that of Stockholm Syndrome.

happy birthday to this crazy girly 😜🎂🎉👯‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/fVETP8nRKR

— badgirIkiki (@badgirIkiki) November 17, 2020

It might be too early to know whether we are over the worst of COVID-19, but there is a reassurance to be found in the fact that memes will be there to see us through. After all, it can’t be forgotten who has the edge on going viral.